Watching Workers, Sorting Citizens: surveillance, government, and the workplace

• published: 13 Dec 2013
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A presentation at FACTS, FICTIONS and the POLITICS OF TRUTH. Parkland Institute 2013 Conference. http://parklandinstitute.ca/ http://parklandinstitute.ca/fallconf2012/index/ WATCHING WORKERS, SORTING CITIZENS: SURVEILLANCE, GOVERNMENT, AND THE WORKPLACE. Sat, November 235, 2012 | 10:45 am, CCIS, room 1-140 Jason Foster "Your Call May Be Recorded": The Evolving Boundaries of Workplace Privacy in Canada Growing use of drug testing, GPS tracking, electronic surveillance and even gathering of biological information have increased employers' ability to monitor, control and secure their worksites to levels never before seen. However, these new tools can also pose significant threat to workers' rights of privacy. Questions around employee privacy are increasingly making headlines and raising serious legal conundrums. This presentation will provide an overview of the state of workplace privacy in Canada. It will examine the current status of workplace privacy in the law and will, more importantly, discuss the practical consequences of new invasive technologies available to employers. It will analyze workplace privacy in the context of the employment relationship and the inherent conflict between employers and workers over what happens at work. JASON FOSTER is Academic Coordinator for Industrial Relations at Athabasca University and is a Ph.D. Candidate at St. Mary's University. His research interests include migrant workers, union renewal, labour history and diversity as well as equity in unions. He is also a close observer of workplace-related privacy issues. On a more serious note, Jason is also a beer writer, educator and certified beer judge. Adam Molnar The Move Toward Government 2.0 Identity Management Systems: What's at Stake? In recent years the Province of British Columbia has been transforming its approach to governance by moving toward a comprehensive "Government 2.0" identity management system. This initiative changes the way the province collects, accesses, and shares the sensitive personal information of residents across public departments, as well as between public and private sectors. The BC Services Card (BCSC) is a major policy component of the larger Government 2.0 transition. Private contractors currently provide authentication services associated the BCSC, and the card is also being considered by the BC Government to facilitate commercial transactions. The BCSC is expected to be replicated in other provincial jurisdictions across Canada, and the potential for it to be leveraged into a pan-Canadian Identity Management System is already in place. This presentation will examine key normative, technical, and policy implications of the BCSC in light of the significant security, privacy, and civil liberties concerns that it raises. ADAM MOLNAR is a Postdoctoral fellow at the Surveillance Studies Centre at Queen's University. He specializes in security and privacy issues, particularly in the areas of policing, national security, and public safety governance. More particularly, he researches how collaborative governmental initiatives are arranged, and the privacy and security implications that follow. Conference Video sponsored by: Health Sciences Association of Alberta http://www.hsaa.ca/ With additional support from: United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 http://www.gounion.ca/ Conference Video produced by: KTNEXUS http://ktnexus.ca/